The short film poses philosophical questions about the implications of breakthroughs in genetics on identity and the nature of life itself. Lukáš, currently studying Digital Design at UTB and working as a freelancer, balances technical challenges with creative expression to deliver an experience that lingers in the minds of its audience.
We spoke to Lukáš about the inspirations, challenges, and insights behind his work.
The main concept of my short is genetic modification, and what advances or breakthroughs in this field may mean for our identity and the identity of life itself. To be fair, I’m not much of a storyteller, so I mainly stayed on the visual track of the project and tried to confine these questions into images.
I think genetic modification is a pretty overlooked topic that brings many moral implications. Once we break a certain threshold of possibilities, it’s up to us whether we draw a line somewhere or go along with whatever form life will be able to take.
Probably the one with the cicada shedding its exoskeleton, or evolving. The cloth simulation was a pain to get working, and I’m happy I was able to do so. It’s also a strong visual representation of the film’s theme—transformation, evolution, and the fragility of the process.
Trying to achieve a result as close as possible to the goal I set for myself. Working on larger projects alone often gets messy. Some shots end up requiring more effort than anticipated, and you have to re-adjust your expectations on the go.
I mostly worked alone, but I got some great help from my friend Adam Gregus with compositing, which I really appreciate. I’m also grateful for the feedback I received from students and professors at the Digital Design department of UTB, where I’m still studying.
I mostly work with Blender, but it sometimes lags behind in more complicated simulations. For this project, I tried to offset some of the simulation load into Cinema 4D, and it worked great. I was happy to extend my skill set with that. I also used Embergen and Liquidgen, which have saved me multiple times. They’re incredibly well-optimized, even in their beta or alpha stages.
My greatest takeaway was to be more realistic with my goals and focus more on the result than hyperfocusing on a background simulation that nobody will even notice in the end.
The ability to create. I’m truly grateful to live in a time where we have so many tools that allow us to transform ideas into reality. These are crazy times.
Really important. The result is just many small parts built into one, and sound design is one of those key parts that can make or break a project.
Mostly on Behance and Vimeo. Outside of those, it’s movies and music.
I got into studying design pretty much by accident. As for freelancing, the socio-economic state in Eastern Europe isn’t very inviting for young people and students, so you need to find ways to support yourself financially. I’m really grateful for the privilege of being able to make a living doing what I’m passionate about, necessities aside.
I’d say the La Montagniere Widebody Alpine project. It’s a car design project I worked on, and I feel it’s one of my best works so far. You can check it out here: La Montagniere Widebody Alpine.
One that stands out is the Bungie Marathon Video Game Announcement Trailer. I’m not invested in the game itself, but the art direction, pace, and sound design are perfect. I also admire Ibrahim’s editorial work. His use of color, composition, and texture is unmatched. Ash Thorp’s PASSAGE is another. I think of him as one of the greatest creatives of our time—his work is on another level.
I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s just a tool. On the other hand, I don’t see the relationship between the prompter and the generated image as the same as between an artist and their work. It feels more like pulling an image from Google Search. I don’t feel a sense of authorship in the images I generate at all. That said, it’s great for inspiration and ideation. The moral question of datasets and copyright is still looming, though. I’m not sure if generative AI is a net gain or a loss for the creative industry.
My process is pretty direct. I take time to think about the topic, let the thoughts ferment, and form a complex idea of the whole project—from the vibe to the specific shots. After creating the storyboard and animatic, I see what works and what doesn’t. Ideally, I’d like to have everything figured out before I start working on scenes, but it usually ends up being more of a freestyle. There’s a lot of redoing—lighting, baking, changing camera angles. I hope I’ll get more direct and efficient with experience.
Artists have the ability to shift public perception, even if only slightly. We live in a critical period with many issues that need to be part of public consciousness. If art can nudge humanity in the right direction, I’ll feel a little more at peace.
Not directly, but definitely indirectly. The projects from the 2023 Pause Awards were all beautiful and inspiring, so I felt a lot of pressure to keep up with their quality.
